Vera Wang Partners with Kohl’s
August 6, 2007 by Susan Gunelius
Filed under Marketing
Vera Wang has long been known as one of the top fashion designers in the world. In fact, few celebrity or high-profile weddings take place without the bride wearing a gown designed by Vera Wang. On the other hand, Kohl’s is known as a discount retailer, so it came as quite a surprise to me when I heard that Vera Wang is launching a new line for Kohl’s stores called “Simply Vera Vera Wang.”
The “Simply Vera Vera Wang” line will bring high-end designer clothing, accessories and home products to Kohl’s stores, and it’s set to launch in September. Advertising will start this month and will feature an 8-page spread using a Wizard of Oz theme. Ads will appear in O, The Oprah Magazine, InStyle and Vogue.
Vera Wang has been expanding her presence for years selling everything from eyewear to mattresses. A partnership with Kohl’s will allow average consumers to access and afford her merchandise. She’s already been named one of the world’s 15 most powerful women by Newsweek magazine. Partnering with Kohl’s is just one more step in building her brand presence, but at what cost?
Will putting her name on products in the stores of a discount retailer like Kohl’s negatively affect the Vera Wang brand among her high-end clientele? What do you think?
Not sure Kohl’s would have been my partner. Maybe Target? Going downstream is definitely a lot easier than swimming upstream. Wal-Mart knows that for sure. I don’t shop Kohl’s on a regular basis, but when I have I have not been impressed.
Still, Vera is very very sharp. She must know what she is getting into or the dollars were just too good to pass up :)
I agree that Vera is definitely a savvy businesswoman who consistently grows her brand. It will be interesting to see how this one goes!
I work at one of the Kohl’s stores that has already recieved Vera’s merchandise and I have to say so far it has gone over better than I expected. Everything looks very nice and customers are deffinetely trying it on and even buying some of it. Kohl’s is also doing everything in their power to maintain Vera’s reputation, now if we could just get the nasty rude customers to starting treating everything better and stop being so messy, then she’d be set.
Where the hell can i buy that dress in her ad? It’s beautiful